Jet deflecting flap for a jet flap aircraft



1963 G. H. CHARLTVON ETA]. ,0

JE DEFLECTING FLAP FOR A JET FLAP AIRCRAFT 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 17, 1961 Inventors orney Feb. 5, 1963 G. H. CHARLTON ET AL 3,076,622

JET DEF'LECTING FLAP FOR A JET FLAP AIRCRAFT Filed April 17, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 7.

George HQAErTC'fidf/fla rnes? Zeara dA/(em nvantors 2 m i ttorneys Pifi ihfizii Patented Feh. 5, 1%53 3,076,622 I JET DEFLEQTENG FLAP EUR A JET FLAP AL'RQRAFT George Hubert Charlton, Luton, and Ernest Leonard Alien, Dunstahie, England, assignors to Eewer lets (Research and Development) Limited, London, Engiand, a British company Filed Apr. 17, 1961, Eer. No. 103,566 Claims priority, application Great Britain Apr. ll, 19-60 13 Claims. {EL 244-d2l The present invention relates to the construction of a jet deflecting flap for a' jet flap aircraft.

in a jet flap aircraft a jet stream is discharged from the rear of a' wing as a long shallow sheet over the upper surface of a trailing edge wing flap which serves to deflect the jet stream. This stream will in many cases be at a high temperature-possibly as high as 600 C.and it is therefore a requirement that the flap shall be so constructed that its upper surface, which is exposed to the jet stream, shall as far as possible be free to expand in all directions to minimise the risk of thermal distortion while maintaining its profile. This requirement is of especial importance in relation to the forward part of the flap upper surface since this will be screened from the jet stream when the flap is raised and exposed thereto when the flap is lowered, and will thus experience extremes of temperatures.

Accordingly the invention provides a lisp comprisingv inner supporting structure and at least one panel forming the flap upper surface, the panel being supporting structure by means permitting free expansion of the panel both chordwise and spanwise.

According to one feature of the invention the inner supporting structure includes a plurality of chordwiseextending formers, each corresponding in profile to at least part of the flap upper surface, and the panel is so cured to an intermediate former only at a position intermediate the leading and trailing edges, and is secured to the other formers by means permitting free expansion of the panel both chordwise and spanwisc.

7 According to a further feature of the invention the flap includes an internal spanwise-extending torque tube and the formers are supported on the torque tube by means permitting free expansion of the formers in a chordwise sense. I

According'to yet another feature of the invention the flap is formed with gaps near its leading and trailing edges to permit the flow of air through its interior.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, Ofwhich:

FXGURE 1 isan extrenal view of a jet deflecting flap for a jetfia-p aircraft.

FIGURES 2 and 3 are chordwise sectional views of the flap, taken on the lines il-ll and Ill-ill in FIGURE 1.

FIGURES 4 and 5 are fragmentary sectional views taken on the lines lV--1V and V-V in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary view of the flap leading edge, parts being shown as broken away to reveal the construction.

FIGURE 7 is a view of a detail of the flap.

The flap shown in the drawings is intended for use in a jet flap aircraft which might be of the type shown in United States Patent No. 2,961,192 (Davidson et a1.) or No. 2,973,165 (Davidson). a number of gas turbine jet propulsion engines which have their jet pipes connected to jet nozzle units which change in cross-section from circular at the inlet to terminate in long shallow jet nozzles extending spanwise of the wing. The rearward end of such a nozzle unit is shown secured to the Such an aircraft comprises 7 at l in FIGURE 2.

die

The jet stream is discharged from the nozzle 2 as a long thin jet sheet rearwardly over the upper surface of the trailing edge wing flap 3 and by raising and lowering the flap the jet sheet can be deflected upwardly and downwardly from the rearward direction. It will be understood that the flap can also in some 011'- cumstauces perform the functions of an aileron.

The flap 3 is built up around an internal spanwise extending torque tube 11 and is pivotally mounted on an axle 12 supported at its ends on the wing ribs (not shown). A lever 13 is attached to one end oi the torque tube and an operating jack 1 is connected to this lever.

At three stations along the span of the flap-station A at mid length and stations B and B close to the cndschannel-section arms 15, 16, I? are rigidly attached to the torque tubcsee FIGURE 2. These arms support a chordwise-extending channel-section former 18 corresponding in profile to the flap upper surface. The dormer lit is pivotally attached to arm is at a position corresponding to the junction of the curved and flat portions of the flap upper surface, and is connected to arms 15, 27 through links 1), 2% respectively. Link 1) is rigidly connected to arm 15 at one end but at the other end it is secured to the former by a bolt which is free to slide chordwise in a slot 21. The link 1%: is pivotally connected at its ends to arm 17 and to former it}.

At stations C and C intermediate stations A, B and A, B further channel section arms 16a, 17a are rigidly attached to the torque tube ill-see FlGURE 3. These arms are similar to arms 16, 17 already described, but there is no arm equivalent to arm 15 at these stations. The arms 16a, 17a support a channel-section former corresponding in profile to the forward part of the flap upper surface, the former being pivotally attached to arm 2.6a and connected to arm li'ia through a link similar to link 2% previously described.

It is to be noted that some components appearing in FIGURE 2 should also be seen in FlGURE 3, but these have been omitted for the sake of clarity.

The skin 2.2 forming the flap under surface is attached to arms 15, i7, 17a by riveting or the like, while the skin 23 forming the flap upper surface is attached to formers 18, 18a in a manner to be described below. The upper and lower skins are spaced apart to leave gaps 24, 25 near the flap leading and trailing edges.

The upper skin 23 of the flap is made up of two panels 235:, These panels are rigidly secured to formers ion at stations 0,, C only by spot welding at 2d and by rivets at 27. Each panel is formed with a slit 2?; extending from a point just forward the rivet 27 to the flap leading edge, and the slit is covered by a strip 2% also secured by rivet 27. At the flap leading edge, the panels 23a, 23b and the covering strips 29 are wrapped around tubular rods as will be described below.

The two panels 23a, 231) are attached to the former 18 at station A in the manner shown in FEGURE 4. The edges or" the panels fit freely under a cover strip 3 3 rigidly secured by rivets to the forrne but spaced therefrom by washers 31. The washers are of slightly greater thickness than the panels (in FIGURE 4 the differenc in thickness has been exaggerated) and the edges of the panels are scalloped or cut away to leave clearance around the washers.

The ends of the flap are closed by end caps 32. The end caps 32 and cover strips 33 are rigidly secured by rivets to the formers 13 at stations B B and the ends of the panels 23a, 23b fit freely between the cover strips 33 and the formers in as shown in PLZGURE 5. The end caps are of slightly greater thickness than the panels and a clearance is left between them. The difference in thickness has been exaggerated in the drawing.

As mentioned above, the panels 23a, 23b are wrapped around tubular rods 3-t-see FIGURE 6at the flap leading edge. There are two such tubes, and these are Welded or similarly secured at their mid points to the formers the at stations C C while their ends freely engage in tubes 35 welded or similarly secured to the formers 18 at stations A, B B The panels and the reinforcing strips 29 and 3% are formed with hooks or loops which are partly or wholly wrapped round the tubes but which are not otherwise secured thereto.

The rearward parts of the panels 23a, 23.) are stiffened by spanwiseextending approximately Z-seciion stiffener-s 36 secured theretosee FIGURES 2 and 3. The ends of these stiffeners are connected to the flanges of the formers it; by brackets 37-see FIGURE 7-which are riveted to the stiffeners and are bolted to the former 18 by bolts 38 engaging in slots 3?, the bolts being only linger tight.

By means of the construction described above the maximum freedom for thermal expansion is provided while a rigi structure is maintained. The pivotal attachment of the formers 13, 13a to the arms 16 and the links 1?, 2'9, 26a permit the formers to expand without distortion. The clearances between the edges of the panels and the washers 31, end caps 32 and cover strips 3%, 33 permit the panels to expand freely both chordwise and spanwise from the central anchorage constituted by spot welds 26 and rivets 2?. The slits 23 also allow for thermal expansion of the forward part of the flap. The forward ends of the panels are free to slide on the tubes while these tubes are free to slide within tubes 35. The brackets 37 and the slotted bolt holes 3& allow the stiffeners 36 to expand independently of the formers 18 and the panels 23a, 23b. The gaps 24, 25 permit a flow of cooling air through the interior of the fiap.

We claim:

1. A jet deflecting flap for a jet flap aircraft comprising inner supporting structure, at least one panel extending chordwise from the flap leading edge to the flap trailing edge and forming the flap upper surface, and means securing the panel to the supporting structure with freedom for expansion of the panel both chordwise and spanwise.

2. A jet deflecting flap for a jet flap aircraft comprising inner supporting structure including at least two chordwise-extending formers spaced from one another in a spanwise sense, each former corresponding in profile to at least part of the flap upper surface, at least one panel forming the flap upper surface, means rigidly s curing the panel to one former, and means attaching the panel to the other former with freedom for expansion both chordwise and spanwise.

3. A jet deflecting flap for a jet flap aircraft comprising inner supporting structure including at least three chordwise-extending formers spaced from one another in a spanwise sense, each former corresponding in profile to at least part of the flap upper surface, at least one panel forming the flap upper surface, means rigidly se- A curing the panel at a position intermediate its ends to the intermediate former, and means attaching the panel at its ends to the other formers with freedom for expansion both chordwise and spanwise.

4. A flap according to claim 3 wherein the panel is secured to the intermediate former only at an anchorage intermediate the flap leading and trailing edges.

5. A flap according to claim 3 wherein the attaching means of the panel to each ofsaid other formers comprises a cover strip rigidly secured to the former, the end of the panel fitting freely between the strip and the former with clearance for spanwise expansion.

6. A flap according to claim 4 wherein the panel is formed with a slit extending forwardly to the flap leading edge from its said anchorage to the intermediate former.

7. A flap according to claim 6 further comprising a cover strip overlying the slit.

8. A flap according to claim 3 further comprising a rod extending along the flap leading edge, said rod being secured intermediate its ends to saidintermediate former and freely engaging at its ends in tubes secured to said other formers, the leading edge of the panel being wrapped.

around said rod.

9. A flap according to claim 3 further comprising a stiffener secured to the rearward part of the panel and extending between said other formers.

10. A jet deflecting flap for a jet fiapaircraft comprising an internal spanwise-extending torque tube, a plurality of chordwise-extcnding formers spaced from one another in a spanwise sense, each former corresponding in profile to at least part of the flap upper surface, means supporting each formers on the torque tube, said means including at least two arms extending from the torque tube, the former being pivotally attached at a position intermediate the flap leading and trailing edges to one arm, and a pivoted link connecting the other arm to the former at the flap leading edge, and at least one panel forming the flap upper surface and secured to the formers.

11. A flap according to claim 10 wherein the supporting means of at least one former on the torque tube includes a further arm extending from the torque tube, the former being connected to this arm at the flap trailing edge through a sliding attachment permitting relative chordwise movement.

12. A flap according to claim 10 comprising meansv References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,095,952 Arnoux May 5, 1914 1,724,456 Crook Aug. 13, 1929 1,918,397 Colburn July 18, 1933 

1. A JET DEFLECTING FLAP FOR A JET FLAP AIRCRAFT COMPRISING INNER SUPPORTING STRUCTURE, AT LEAST ONE PANEL EXTEN 